Research utilization among medical and surgical nurses: a comparison of their self reports and perceptions of barriers and facilitators

Background Although the number of studies on research utilization is steadily growing, there are only a few speciality-specific studies. Aims This study focuses on medical and surgical nurses. It compares their reported use of research utilization and their perceptions of barriers and obstacles. Methods A convenient sample of 210 medical nurses and 269 surgical nurses, from 10 general hospitals in 14 Trusts in Northern Ireland (NI), was surveyed. Results The results showed that the reported extent of research utilization was high, with less than 10% in each group reporting never/seldom using research. The reported difference between the medical and surgical nurses was very small, with medical nurses reporting a slightly higher rate of utilization. However, this was not statistically significant at 5% level. Conclusions The Barriers Scale (Funk et al. 1991a) used in this study to assess their perceptions of barriers and facilitators revealed a similar picture for both groups. The top two barriers were ‘Management will not allow implementation’ and ‘The nurse does not feel she/he has enough authority to change patient care procedures’. These findings, as well as the need to take research utilization studies further, are discussed.